My MINI won't start. Put the key in and nothing...total electronic failure.
Is there a quick fix or am I out of work tomorrow and at the dealer?
Never had a problem before. The EML light lit up briefly last time I was in it, but did not stay on for long, so i thought I was ok. But next time I get in it (this morn) nothing. Any info out there?

 

it's happened to me before with other cars. unplug the battery from both sides....wait -10 minutes, plug it back in, and restart it
it should work

 

- Open the driver's door.
- Get in the car but do not close the door.
- Put your key in the ignition. Don't turn it at all.

Does the car go "Bing, Bing, Bing" ?

If NOT, try the other two keys that came with the car.

Do any of them make the car go bing?

This will tell us if the engine immobilizer circuit is sensing the presence of a key or not.

 

Working on it...be back in 10 mins

 

10 minute reset didn't work.

Insert key and I do get the Bing, bing sound.

 

Update, when I put the key in ignition, I get the bing, bing sound. Then when i turn it one notch, radio and instru. panel work. But when I turn it to start the engine, everything fails. Just different clicking sounds.

 

I think you have the dreaded "Bing Bing" Virus. It has happened to a few people with v38 or higher software. Have you been sharing any fluids with other Minis?

 

did u push the clutch in?

 

Sounds like you have a bad battery, maybe a cell went out. Check the battery water level. Try a different battery by jumping off another car.
Charles

 

I agree - it sounds like a weak battery and not a MINI-specific problem. There appears to be enough "juice" to power the lights and radio but not the starter. I would try to jumpstart the car then recharge the battery. But, if that works, I would locate the source of the battery drain.

 

Call MINI Roadside Assistance to have your car flatbedded to the dealer. The dealer should be able to pinpoint it to a bad cell in the battery. Eventhough you may still have a green light at the top of the battery, the battery can still be bad.
I spoke to a tow truck driver once and he said he had to tow in a few MINIs with the same symptoms. They had bad batteries.
It should be under warranty.

 

Thanks for the input...the "clutch one was funny.

Just tried to jump start it, but that just made the clicks louder...still no start, not even a turn over.

 

xbritt,
You can check your batteries open circuit voltage and get an idea of its charge. An OCV test may be performed with a voltmeter.

1. To determine if the battery is experiencing a problem, turn off all electrical loads and the charging source.

2. For an accurate reading, allow the battery to sit with no electrical loads applied for at least one hour.

3. Connect a voltmeter to the positive and negative terminals and measure the terminal post voltage with no loads or chargers connected to the battery.

4. To determine the battery's state of charge, compare the OCV reading on the voltmeter to the Open Circuit Voltage Chart.

Open Circuit Voltage VS. State of Charge
12.66V ***100% ***

12.45V *** 75% ***

12.24V *** 50% ***

12.06V *** 25% ***

11.89V *** 0% ***
Charles

 

updates?

 

hahahahaha....geez....gotta remember to screw the "gas cap" back on when you're done....so it doesn't spill out!

 

One thing I learned about BMWs is to never jumps start your car! With all of the sensitive electronics in your car, jumping it with another car can damage something. My car was jump started by AAA one time (they came with a souped up car from a service station) and it fried my SI board. My advice is for you to purchase a booster pack. I have 2 of these and they work great!

 

well, it looks like a day off of work Monday to go to the dealer....no start. Damn.

 

so what happened?

 

This happened to me with my first MINI, a 2002 Cooper. I had taken her in for some warranty work to fix a driver's seat squeak, and they must have disconnected the battery to disarm the seat's airbag. When they reconnected the battery cables, one wasn't properly tightened, and it was knocked loose somehow, so NO ELECTRICITY whatsoever when I tried to start her up. I called the dealership, who advised that she be flat-bedded in. Fortunately, it was just the loose cable! I hope your situation is as simple! :smile:


Clover

 

I have had the get-in-and-turn-the-key, all-electrics-light-up-but-no-engine-crank problem. I panicked, but Greatbear on this board hipped me to its common nature: it's an anti-theft feature malfunctioning, e.g. sometimes the car doesn't "see" that your key is programmed as "friendly." Getting out and starting from scratch did the trick. I hope your problem is as easily solved!

 

to fix this problem...

put key in turn to on postion press the lock button.., or it migh tbe the unlock button now i'm now sure... oen of them will unlock the engine.. it's an anti-theft thingy. jsut try it it work for me whn I engaged it by accident one time.

 

Hello all,

Thanks for all the info.

Bottom line.....dead battery. I tried to jump it, didn't work, I tried to boost it with a small booster...didn't work.....tow truck comes out and boosted it with a big booster...worked......drove an hour to the nearest dealer where it wouldn't start again. Got it back next day with a new battery. Cost me $30 for a rental car....didn't take it to my original dealer so didn't get the free rental.
So a dead battery cost me 3/4 day work and $30.

 

Glad you finally got it figured out... Coulda been worse forsure.

 

Mine did this today...not even 400 miles on it Tried the normal tricks lock/unlock, battery disconnect, etc. Finally got it going by pushing it and dumping the clutch.

Worse off, it happened at a car show...I couldn't get my mini in any of the group photo shoots I had to wait 'till everyone left to push start it, so it didn't look like ESE's new project car was garbage.

Dealer says it's the ecu/security, but if that's the case why would it push start?

I'm not going to have any one here at the shop even waste their time on it. The dealer is getting dumped with this problem, since it's so new

 

You could have just taken the battery to Autozone where they would have tested it and found it to be and you could have purchased a nice battery for $60 and been done, so instead of half a day of work, you were out of $60.